


Shared Injuries

by halfdecenthumanbeing



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, oof when will i finish the next chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 20:33:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17753015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfdecenthumanbeing/pseuds/halfdecenthumanbeing
Summary: "She couldn’t just wave it off anymore, so she researched and read until she found an explanation: sometimes, soulmates manifested through the other’s skin. The most common was ink, shared tattoos or the first sentence they heard the other say, but apparently some people’s skin showed when the other got hurt, mirroring their injuries without feeling any pain. That made her worry, concern for her unknown soulmate and all the bruises they sported."





	Shared Injuries

As a kid, one of Claudia’s favorite activities was play with her brother and the new prince, Callum. Soren was older and bigger than the both of them, so they usually teamed up against him. Other times, Soren’s best friend Marcos would join them, and they split in pairs for snow and pillow fights, competitions and playing ball. (Her dad had forbidden hide and seek inside the palace after she and Callum stumbled into an ornamental armor and broke it. They kept playing anyways). Claudia spent most of her free time running around the castle, playing with the boys, and that’s probably why no one was alarmed when they saw her sporting a new bruise or two; she probably bumped into something and forgot about it.

Claudia herself didn’t notice anything odd until well past her tenth birthday. She had been laying on bed and reading a weird book she borrowed from her dad’s lab when she felt a weird tingle on her hand and saw a couple red lines appear across her fingers. They looked like small cuts, but she hadn’t got any and they didn’t itch or hurt, so she pressed on them and wasn’t really surprised when she felt nothing. It was like there was nothing there, and once the red started to dull, she went back to her book, not knowing what to make of it.

A few months later, the cuts had started appearing more frequently, as well as some bruises. It was mostly her arms, though, so Claudia took to wearing long sleeves and if anyone saw, she explained it as clumsiness. She couldn’t just wave it off anymore, so she researched and read until she found an explanation: sometimes, soulmates manifested through the other’s skin. The most common was ink, shared tattoos or the first sentence they heard the other say, but apparently some people’s skin showed when the other got hurt, mirroring their injuries without feeling any pain. That made her worry, concern for her unknown soulmate and all the bruises they sported.

One night, she wakes up feeling a tingle spread over her torso, and she rolls off the bed in a hurry. She ends up sprawled on the floor, legs tangled with her sheets, but rushes to the mirror and lifts her shirt. There are dark bruises on her sides, and when she turns, she sees most of her back is covered by a dark nasty bruise, almost reaching her neck and tucking into her pants. It’s big, and ugly and whoever got it is probably in pain and maybe in danger. That thought makes her pulse quicken and suddenly her breaths are too fast and her eyes are filled with tears. For a fleeting moment, she thinks of going to her father and telling him, but she quickly dismisses that thought and goes to Soren’s room instead, knocking on his door.

He opens it, only to find his eleven year old baby sister crying in the middle of the night. He lifts her easy but carefully and carries Claudia to his bed, where he wraps her in blankets and kisses her forehead before exiting his room. When he comes back, he’s carrying two steamy mugs and a plate of strawberry jellytarts, her favorite. He hands her one of the mugs, puts the plate in front of her and sits by her side, one of his arms around her shoulders. She leans into his chest, her breathing evening out, and he starts humming a lullaby. They stay like that for a while, sipping hot chocolate as she calms down, until Claudia clears her throat.

“I have something to show you.” She turns her back to him, and lifts her shirt a little. She can tell the exact moment Soren sees it, because he lets out a strangled gasp and she can practically feel him reaching for her. Dropping her shirt, Claudia turns to her brother again, smiling faintly. “Don’t worry, I’m not hurt.”

“But your back- that bruise- how?”

His face is a mix of anger, worry and fear, but his eyes only show love and concern, and she feels her heart fill with warmth. Soren may be a bit of a goof, but he’s also the best brother in the world, and he cares so much. Too much, maybe, she thinks as she realizes she should’ve explained before showing him the bruise.

“It’s okay, Soren. It’s not mine.”

“What do you mean it’s not yours?”

“It showed up tonight, but I didn’t hit or hurt my back. Sometimes bruises and cuts appear in my skin, but they’re not mine.”

She rolls up her sleeves so he can see the bruises covering her arms- the already fading ones mixing with the most recent and darker ones, resulting in an overlap of colors. Soren still looks a little worried, but his relief is palpable. There’s something familiar about the bruises on her arms, though, and he turns her arms to get a better look.

“And they don’t hurt?”

“I feel a tingle as they appear, but then nothing. It’s like they’re not even there.”

“And you have any theories about why they appear?”

“Soulmates.” His gaze snaps up, but then continues examining her arms as she goes on. “I read about it. It’s another way soulmates manifest, but it’s pretty uncommon. Seeing your soulmate’s injuries is not as popular as tattoos, apparently.”

He stills for a moment, and when he looks at her his eyes are filled with understanding. Soren might get distracted at times, but he’s pretty smart and Claudia hates when others don’t get he’s intelligent in his own way. Like now, she doesn’t have to explain for him to understand what she means.

“That’s why you were crying. You were worried about your soulmate.”

“These bruises- I’m not in pain, but they are. I’m not hurt, but they are. And it’s new bruises every day.”

“I think I know how they get all the bruises.” Claudia stares at her brother, unsure if she heard right, and he smiles reassuringly at her. “The big one on your back is probably from a bad fall, but the others, the ones in your arms- they remind me of when Marcos and I first became cadets.”

Claudia looks at her arms, her brother’s face, his arms, then hers again. When the boys started training, they ended up covered in bruises, their arms especially, from trying to shield and deflect attacks to their face and torso. She recalls what they looked like, and sees that Soren’s right, they’re not a perfect match but it would make sense.

“You mean-”

“Yep, your soulmate is training, probably to be a soldier. And training hard, judging by these. If they keep it up I bet they’ll be as badass as Queen Sarai and Commander Amaya.”

“Seriously?”, Claudia’s face is turning red, but Soren only nods seriously.

“At least as badass, maybe even more!”

She sighs in relief and lets herself fall against the bed. Soren smiles softly at his little sister before putting away the forgotten mugs and the remaining jellytarts. He moves to tuck her in- and hits her with a pillow instead. Claudia springs up, soulmate worries replaced by the urge to smack her brother even harder.


End file.
